


Lead the Way

by blacktofade



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, M/M, Unexpected Visitors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28319061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blacktofade/pseuds/blacktofade
Summary: Shane gets an unexpected visitor for the holidays.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 30
Kudos: 142
Collections: Skeptic Believer Book Club Advent Calendar





	Lead the Way

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Christmas, darlings! Be merry and safe ♥

Shane’s wrist-deep in sudsy dish water when the doorbell rings a little after eight in the evening.

“I’ll get it,” his mom says with a gentle touch on his arm as she steps around him.

Shane’s not entirely surprised at them having yet another visitor. He’s three days into his trip to Schaumburg and he’s sure he’s seen ninety percent of Chicago’s general population. It’s mostly been friends of his parents stopping by to see _a real Hollywood star_ — their words, not his, because he’s not.

He knows the drill by now. They’ll have a cup of coffee and fawn over how much he’s grown, and he’ll quietly point out that he was a verified adult when he left for California, and they’ll pretend not to hear him.

He can hear his mom talking — nothing specific, but the pitch of her voice sounds like genuine surprise. He rinses another plate under the faucet and sets it in the plastic drainer beside the sink.

“Shane,” she says a few moments later from the doorway, “you have a visitor.”

“If they want an autograph, I might start charging,” Shane jokes. He gives his wet hands a shake over the sink and reaches for the nearest hand towel to dry them as he finally turns to look.

“How much?” Ryan asks and Shane almost drops the towel in his surprise.

For a moment, he can’t say anything at all, genuinely stunned into silence. There’s a flush to Ryan’s face from the cold outside and half-melted snow in his hair, which won’t last long in the heat of the house. He looks good, but it doesn’t explain what he’s doing in Shane’s parents’ kitchen the night before Christmas.

“You didn’t tell me Ryan was coming to visit,” Shane’s mom chastises, scooting past Ryan so she can direct her best how-could-you-do-this-to-your-own-mother stare at Shane.

“I didn’t know he’d be stopping by,” Shane tells her, which is an understatement. He didn’t even know Ryan would be in Illinois. Last they’d spoken, Ryan had been planning a quiet Christmas with his parents.

“Oh!” Shane’s mom says, her tone changing instantly as she turns towards Ryan. “What a nice surprise! Can I get you something to drink, Ryan? We have meatloaf leftovers in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

She starts moving around the kitchen, as though Ryan’s already agreed to both, and Ryan tucks his hands into the pockets of his coat and looks at Shane like he might be panicking.

“I can’t stay long,” Ryan tells her gently. “I just came to talk to Shane.”

“At least let me make you a hot drink. You can talk upstairs and it’ll be ready to drink before you leave.”

Shane gives him a subtle nod, because sometimes in Midwestern homes, it’s easier to just agree.

“Sure,” Ryan tells her with a soft smile. “I’d love a hot chocolate.”

“I’ll make you the good kind,” she says, “with marshmallows on top.”

She nudges at Shane and Shane sighs.

“C’mon,” he says, gesturing in the general direction of the stairs. “I’ll tell you about this cool new invention called cell phones.”

*

“God, this place is like a time capsule,” Ryan says the second he steps foot into Shane’s childhood bedroom. “Jesus.”

“I’m gonna assume you didn’t come all this way just to see my room,” Shane says, leaning against the edge of his desk and folding his arms, feeling strangely off-guard in a way that only Ryan seems to be able to make him. Just when he thinks he has Ryan figured out, Ryan throws another curveball in his direction.

Ryan reaches up and minutely adjusts an old figurine on top of Shane’s dresser and it feels a lot like he’s trying to avoid eye contact.

“I didn’t really mean to come here,” Ryan eventually says, turning towards him, expression grim, and Shane lets out a laugh.

“Took a wrong turn out of Burbank?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Ryan agrees, raking his fingers through his hair, clearly uncomfortable.

“A cross-country trip takes a lot of planning,” Shane says gently, because Ryan had to buy a plane ticket, pack his bag, get a Lyft to the airport, sit on a four hour flight, and get another Lyft to end up at the doorstep of Shane’s childhood home, and at no point did he turn around or stop. Ryan’s clearly there for a reason that he thinks is important enough. 

“Yeah,” Ryan agrees again. “I just — I got in my head about this.”

“About what? You couldn’t just call?”

Ryan shakes his head and worries at the skin around his thumb with his teeth, clearly trying to buy more time. “You’re meant to spend Christmas with those you love.”

Shane finds himself suddenly sitting on his desk rather than just leaning on it, the legs creaking under his weight.

“Ryan,” he warns and Ryan nods.

“I know. Trust me, I’ve had time to think about every variation of how this might end.”

Shane takes a steady breath and then another. “But you’re still here.”

Ryan shrugs, his arms spread wide. “I explore places I think are haunted for a living and I started a business with zero business experience. Spending a lot of time thinking about bad ideas and still going through with them is my speciality.”

“Jesus,” Shane sighs. “You could’ve given me a hint.”

“I did,” Ryan tells him. “I made a living out of exploring haunted places with you and then we started a business together. Hiring a sky-writer was probably next on my list.”

But the truth is that Ryan’s right. Ryan asked him to follow — both with Unsolved and Watcher — and Shane hasn’t looked back. It seems natural now for Shane to trust Ryan to make the right choices. And maybe this is another of those times.

“This’ll get complicated,” Shane says and Ryan perks up like it’s not the rebuff he’s been expecting.

“I know.”

“It might get messy,” Shane tries and Ryan takes a step towards him.

“Most likely.”

“We should probably talk to Steven in case he has objections,” Shane points out and Ryan nods and steps forward again.

“I’ll call him on Monday. It would be unfair not to tell him.”

Ryan stands a few feet away, staring up at him like he’s just been given the best gift ever.

“My mom will make you stay for Christmas,” Shane warns and Ryan just smiles.

“Great, ‘cause I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Shane blanches. “You don’t have a hotel? What were you gonna do if I turned you down?”

Ryan shrugs. “Go back to the airport.”

Shane rubs his forehead and wonders if he’s going against his better judgement.

“No take-backsies,” Ryan says, already reading his mind, but Shane just shakes his head.

“I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” he points out and Ryan nods and reaches up to set a hand on Shane’s shoulder.

“Sure,” he says, but when he applies the slightest pressure, Shane folds, feeling like it’s the easiest thing in the world to lean down and meet him halfway.

“Merry Christmas,” Ryan murmurs against his mouth and Shane’s polite enough not to point out he’s a few hours too early.

Instead, he presses the tips of his fingers against Ryan’s jaw and kisses him, feeling as though it’s something he should have done a long time ago, but just needed Ryan to lead the way.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to share feelings, you can also find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/blacktofade) and [Tumblr](http://blacktofade.tumblr.com/).


End file.
